Flight Controller

Flight Controller V2

STM32H743 hardware adaptation and ArduPilot integration

STM32H743VIT6 controller adapted from an open-hardware reference design for externally regulated power, a signal-only OpenESC interface, exact Nano-Fit integration and a pinned ArduPilot target. The repository preserves the hardware adaptation, firmware work and vendor engineering packages.

Project contributor: Desan Vasu. Project engineering activities were performed by Desan; physical fabrication was external. Documented development: 26 August–6 October 2026. These are evidence dates, not employment dates.

Current status: Engineering prototype. Manufacturer data, a pinned firmware target and freshly built FCV2 bootloader/BIN/APJ are available; powered-board, sensor and flight qualification remain pending.

Quick links: KiCad project · Schematic PDF · Manufacturing · Development history · Verification · Releases

V2 is derived from upstream hardware, archived commit 0a60da1767061623549253d3cef8649f93ea052c. Its original hardware design and contributors are credited below.

Table of contents

• Features
• Hardware specifications
• Architecture
• Pin mapping
• Board layout and wiring
• Development history
• Design and manufacturing files
• Getting started
• Firmware
• Verification
• Repository structure
• License and credits

Features

• Reference-derived STM32H743VIT6 hardware with two dissimilar IMUs
• ICM42688P on SPI6, BMI270 on SPI3 and BMP388 on I2C2
• External regulated POWER1 supply; USB remains data/debug only
• Onboard AP63205 supply path removed; four signal-only OpenESC outputs
• Exact Molex Nano-Fit 105311-1202 on an integral connector tab
• Analog OSD hardware retained, disabled by initial firmware defaults
• Pinned ArduPilot Copter 4.7.1 source and neutral FCV2 target
• Separate JLCPCB and PCBWay source/manufacturing snapshots

Hardware specifications

Specifications describe the design intent and source. Runtime capabilities require physical qualification; see validation status.

Architecture

flowchart LR
    POWER[External regulated supply] --> FC[STM32H743 flight controller]
    IMU[ICM42688P, BMI270 and BMP388] --> FC
    RC[CRSF receiver] --> FC
    GPS[External GNSS and compass] --> FC
    FC -->|Motor signals and ground| ESC[OpenESC]
    BAT[Battery and power distribution] --> ESC
    COMP[Separately powered companion] <-->|Advisory data interface| FC
    USB[USB data and debug] <--> FC

The controller owns stabilization, motor waveforms, arming and failsafe. Companion perception/navigation is advisory and separately powered. Architecture and boundaries.

Pin mapping

Controlled J6 motor outputs map to PE14, PE13, PE11 and PE9 / TIM1. ICM42688P uses SPI6; BMI270 uses SPI3; BMP388 uses I2C2. Resource matrix.

The connector pin tables are generated from the exact public netlist. Do not infer connector numbering from another version or from an unlabelled photograph.

Board layout and wiring

CAD renders above represent the published source, not photographs of tested hardware. PCB layer and assembly exports · Power and interfaces · Bring-up procedure.

Development history

The timeline follows requirements, resource freeze, schematic capture, correction, placement, routing and manufacturing stages. Each milestone links its evidence and tag. Publication commits use their actual import date; historical dates remain in the records.

The development archive preserves unique CAD experiments and engineering scripts, including failed approaches. Source fragments are labelled as fragments; no missing historical source state is fabricated.

Design and manufacturing files

Choose one version and vendor package as a complete set. Do not mix source, Gerbers, BOM or placement files across packages. New public manifests replace original private-package hashes after neutral naming and metadata changes.

Getting started

1. Download or clone this repository.
2. Install KiCad 10 with its standard symbol, footprint and 3D libraries.
3. Open Flight Controller.kicad_pro, then the root schematic and PCB.
4. Review hardware instructions, verification and the correct vendor package.
5. Review the props-off bring-up checklist before any powered hardware work.

Build/flash guidance for the neutral FCV2 target is in firmware/README.md. Keep initial runtime defaults and the unreserved board-ID limitation visible.

Firmware

ArduPilot Copter 4.7.1 source is pinned to dbe792162d06cab66c3475fd5556bf7a120f119e. The firmware directory contains FCV2 target/defaults, reproducible build instructions, and the successful build logs, binary hashes and downloadable bootloader/BIN/APJ. Legacy upstream targets are historical; final EVT1 compatibility is not asserted.

Verification

Fresh source checks: 14 October 2026, KiCad 10.0.6.

Publication metadata reconciliation removed the original 119 schematic/PCB parity warnings without changing pad, routing, placement, zone or outline geometry.

Ignored checker categories and warning dispositions are recorded in validation status. EDA checks and a firmware build do not establish physical reliability or flight qualification.

Repository structure

hardware/       Current coherent KiCad source and libraries
firmware/       Target availability, configuration and build provenance
fabrication/    Vendor-specific source, assembly data and export instructions
docs/           Architecture, pinouts, development history and portfolio case study
media/          Exact-source CAD renders and layer views
verification/   Fresh native reports, corrections and exception evidence
tools/          Portable checking/export utilities
archive/        Recovered source states and indexed development experiments

License and credits

Inherited upstream hardware source remains under CERN-OHL-S-2.0. KiCad-derived libraries, ArduPilot and other third-party content retain their own notices. Third-party notices.

Desan Vasu performed the project engineering activities; fabrication was external. Contribution statement · Portfolio case study.

Reference projects: ArduPilot, KiCad, and the OpenESC/OpenRX ecosystem identified in the source records.

Related project: Flight Controller V1.